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Straits of Mackinac meets Puget Sound and someone from Nashville crashes the party. Introspective originals in a country and Northwestern vein.
Genre:
Country: Country Folk
Release Date:
2001
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MJ Bishop
Feel Good
Folk: Folk Pop
MJ Bishop
Pull of the Moon
Folk: Alternative Folk
Hometown Address
© Copyright-MJ Bishop
(634479255823)
Record Label: MJ Bishop
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MJ Bishop took advantage of a rare August ice thaw to make her break from Michigan's Upper Peninsula and come to Seattle several years ago.
She has entertained Puget Sound fans for over ten years, singing classic rock, jazz/blues and country tunes.
Music was there right from the start for MJ - in third grade, she started piano lessons and moved on to the trumpet through high school.
She also showed her poetic gifts early on, but only a few years ago did she begin putting the two together.
Unable to afford a red sports car for a mid-life crisis (which never took hold anyway), MJ bought an acoustic guitar in 1998 and turned her energies to songwriting.
Many of the tunes on her full-length debut CD, Hometown Address, explore childhood in a small town, a Catholic upbringing, love and broken hearts.
They are by turns lighthearted, poignant, silly, and nostalgic, and they focus on the surroundings of her youth and her ability to appreciate them now.
The toe-tapping "Cowboy" gets fans on their feet, the quiet reflection of "Hometown Address" touches a sympathetic chord for everyone, and you'll be eager to visit the Upper Peninsula after you've heard about the "Straits of Mackinac." With this excellent album now under her belt, MJ will be focusing on new material and performances.
She's one to watch as her singing and songwriting develop.
MJ's found her niche as a songwriter in a Nashville-oriented folk vein, and she's sticking around for the long haul.
Hope you will too!
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Fabbo Album
author: Ian Lang
Lovely instrumentation....strong songs and FANTASTIC vocals...Loved it enough to order the new 'un !
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Great songs!
author: Eva Tree
Instrumentation is fantastic.
Perfect to lift the vocals where they need to be!
Lovely husky voice.
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More than "just" country.
author: Peter Stekel
A friend gave Hometown Address to me as a birthday present and I must admit I was pleased by the quality of songwriting, singing and musicianship on the CD. I'm not a big country fan so Bishop's CD was a pleasent surprise.
Most contemporary country music is cliche; songs about pickup trucks, cheating on your spouse, how great it is to be an American or any of a list of rural-middle America myths.
It doesn't have to be that way. The best of country music comes from performers who use the genre to explore unique regional experiences. Like other innovators in country music, MJ Bishop has developed a style that is commercial [listen to the Cowboy song and think, "Top Ten"] but personal as well. And by personal, I mean artistic.
I think that what makes MJ Bishop stand out so much comes from her wide exposure to different kinds of music. I didn't realize this until reading her biography but it explained [at least to me] why music from Hometown Address doesn't carry that same monotonous country feel you hear on the radio. I'd put Bishop up there with all the other country innovators [Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, and Dolly Parton] who don't think they must be confined by country music but who use the music to expand their art. And by doing so, they expand our lives and experiences.
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This CD is MJ, inspiring, intelligent, introspective, and "in"-ticing.
author: Joe Brigman
I've heard quite a few Country and Northwestern artists, but I can never remember their names once a day or two comes between me and their music. MJ Bishop's "Home Address" stays with me. Her lyrics embody poetic depth. Her band is tight. Her melodies echo traditional country, but never obstruct the fresh vitality of her voice. MJ has hit a home run.
Ms. Bishop has all that it takes to be a Country STAR! She is petite, gorgeous, talented, bright, and ambitious. In the new world of video, she is a natural. Unfortunately, she doesn't live in Nashville, and her music is not shallow enough to appeal to the mass pop audience, and thus the suits that push it upon us. Still, there is reason to hope. Dwight Yoakum reminded us of our twanging roots with his Bakersfield sound, Allison Krause brought back the joy and beauty of Bluegrass, and Junior Brown showed us how much fun you can have with a gruff voice and a guit-steel. These acts are hardly mainstream Nashville, but they have contributed to the depth and breadth of modern Country. Who knows? Should MJ get a break, her talent and other assets could lead a breach of this boundary and introduce a neglected regional style to the nation.
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